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| The HNC Basketball Team (中美中心的篮球队) |
The HNC basketball team is another way for students to become involved on campus and to exchange cultures and language outside of the everyday classroom. Student-run groups and teams make up the bulk of student extracurricular activities. Other activities at the HNC include Tai Chi, Calligraphy, Ping-Pong, Yoga, China-Africa Interest Group, Philosophy Discussion Group, and a language partner group, among others.
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| The basketball team warming up for their game |
Made up of international students and Chinese students, the student-run HNC basketball team was formed at the beginning of the semester. 阮晨, a first-year HNC Certificate student, decided to join the team because of the opportunity to make friends and for language exchange. Besides practicing on the court three times a week, the basketball team also gets together to hang out and watch basketball. 阮晨 has learned formal basketball terms in English through interactions with his teammates and on the flip side, he’s had fun teaching Chinese basketball terms, such as 犯规 and 好球, to his English-speaking teammates!
During the game, students sported their HNC basketball team jerseys. The HNC basketball jerseys are a fun, spirited addition to the team. HNC students and faculty had the opportunity to buy jerseys themselves, while the team gets to rock their names and numbers out on the basketball courts. Haleigh Morgus, a second-year MAIS student and the basketball team manager, organized the purchasing of the jerseys and is the main point of communication for the team throughout the basketball tournament.
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| The team coming in for their final huddle after their first win! |
The final shot of the basketball team’s first game was truly magical. With only a few seconds left, the HNC was up by 20 points. Everyone was ecstatic with the score and thought that would be it. With only a few seconds left, first-year Certificate student hailing from Myanmar, Khun Nyan Min Htet (Joy Joy), ran across the basketball court and with amazing momentum made the last shot of the game, a 3-pointer, bringing the final score to 45-23. HNC fans – and his teammates on the sidelines – jumped up in the air simultaneously, chanting his name and enthusiastically high-fiving each other.
After the game, a member from the away team told one of our team members: "Your fans are so crazy; we wish we had the same kind of support!" The basketball game was another example of the HNC community coming together to support one another. We are so proud of our basketball team! We hope to see everyone back on the court soon as we move into playoffs.
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| Haleigh Morgus, the team’s美女经理, standing next to the final score of the game |
